1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage and dispensing container for used plastic grocery bags and more particularly to a storage and dispensing container that is free standing and that will efficiently release one bag at a time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plastic bags are generally used by supermarkets for packing groceries. After the groceries are unpacked, many thrifty individuals wish to save them for reuse. Since the plastic bag has an expanding nature, even a few bags placed in a drawer will tend to fill it. Some individuals store several bags inside another plastic bag, which is then hung on a hook or elsewhere. These types of arrangements will render the plastic bags somewhat inconvenient to store and retrieve. Further, these stored bags frequently are untidy and unsightly.
It has long been recognized that there is a need to provide for a container that will store and dispense used plastic grocery bags. Such a container is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,687 issued to McKinley on Aug. 27, 1991. The container disclosed in the McKinley patent consists of curved and flat side walls.
A problem with McKinley is that although the flat side of the wall provides an easy means of hanging the container, the combination of the flat and curved portions does not permit an easy extraction of the stored grocery bags. None of these previous efforts, however, provide the benefits intended with the present invention. Additionally, prior techniques do not suggest the present inventive combination of component elements as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objectives and advantages over the prior art device through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, which is simple to use, with the utilization of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, assemble, and by employing only readily available material.